AFL: Conference Championship Match Ups

The Arena Football Conference Championship games are set and both are shaping up to have some great story lines.

First off, in the National Conference the #1 Philadelphia Soul (14-3) will play host to the # 4 Cleveland Gladiators (11-7) on July 12th (ESPN 1pm ET).

The Gladiators who I have been sporadically reporting about over the season since they have just made the move to my beloved sports town, are an unlikely squad to be sitting one win away from the Arena Bowl. This is mostly due to the fact that last year they posted a relocating 2-14 effort. As I had said earlier, the key to the Gladiators postseason success was going to be an offense that continues to click as well as implementing a running game that is of second priority in the AFL. Coach of the Year Mike Wilpolt has done a tremendous job thus far in constantly changing up his offensive looks, and creating mismatches on every drive. In the second round of playoff action Philyaw proved once again that he should be recognized as one of the top QB’s in the league throwing what proved to be a game winning TD with a little over a minute to go against the Force for the 73-70 victory. See those highlights here:



It is hard to get a closer game than a three point margin, but the Philadelphia Soul were able to do it in round 2 versus New York. The soul came into the playoffs as a majority favorite to head to the Arena Bowl, but have stumbled showing their weakness against the Dragons.

Looks like a St Louis Ram’s situation only 1 yard closer.



Remember 17 Total Teams:
The Gladiators Post #3 Rushing Offensive going against the The Soul’s 15th Ranked Rush Defense.
The Soul and Gladiators are #1 and #2 in Pass Offense respectively. On the the pass defense Philadelphia sits at #5 and Cleveland at #15. These teams met twice in the regular season with the Soul taking both 67-55 and 62-61.


In the American Conference we will see defending Arena Bowl Champion #2 San Jose Sabrecats (12-5) host the #6 Grand Rapids Rampage (8-10) July 12th (ESPN 3:30 pm ET). The Rampage are without a doubt the story of the playoffs year, and are moving into a conference championship after knocking off top seed Chicago. We have to give much respect to Tucson Native and former teammate to Matt Randle “el”, QB James MacPherson. Against the Chicago Rush MacPherson did everything a QB could possibly do on his own to solidify a W. When all was said and done he completed 33 of 39 attempts for 326 yards and 6 touchdowns. Check out this highlight of him gunning a TD while laying down:



We here are the Bear Down now Support our GrandRapids/Tucson Boy, and thus will not be recapping San Jose’s efforts. Watch the highlights:



Team Comparison:
Passing Offensive: Rampage #6, SabreCats #7
Passing Defense: Rampage #10, SabreCats #3
Rushing Offense: Rampage #2, SabreCats #16

Grand Rapids and San Jose met only one time in the regular season during week 1 where the SabreCats came out on top 66-58.


What To Hope For: Grand Rapids vs. Cleveland in the Arena Bowl

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AFL Playoffs: Round 1 Recap

The Wild Card Round of the Arena Football Playoffs are in the books, and there was some great action all weekend.

Friday June 27th:
#3 Dallas Desperados (12-4) vs. #6 New York Dragons (8-8)

This turned out to be the biggest upset of the opening round as the Dragons took down the Desperados 77-63 . Leading the way for the Dragons was Garcia who went 28-39 with 330 yards and 9 touchdowns. Next up for the Dragons is top seeded Philadelphia. ( July 5th7pm ET on ESPN).

Saturday June 28th:
#5 Colorado Crush (6-10) vs. #4 Utah Blaze (6-10)

The crush sneaked passed the Blaze in their opening match defeating the Blaze 49-45. Top Performers:
Crush: Dutton: 30-47 for 268 yards and 6 TDS
Williams: 13 Receptions for 123 Yards and 3 TDs
Blaze:
From The Ohio State University: Joe Germaine: 23-36 for 252 yards and 6 TDS

Next up for the Crush is Grand Rapids on Sunday July 6th at 3pm ET and you can catch that one on ESPN as well.

Sunday June 29th:
#5 Orlando Predators (9-7) vs. #4 Cleveland Gladiators (9-7)

The Gladiators make it out of wild card play in the first ever season in Cleveland with a 69-66 victory over Orlando. Offesnsive player of the game goes to Gladiators QB Raymond Philyaw for throwing 8 TD’s in the game. On the defensive side the game ball goes to Brandon Hefflin who not only had 2 INTS but recovered a fumble with only 2 minutes left to play to help seal Cleveland’s victory.

Next Up for Cleveland is # Georgia Force which can be seen Monday July 7th at 8pm ET on ESPN2.

#6 Grand Rapids Rampage (6-10) vs. #3 Arizona Rattlers (8-8)

Arizona might have lived up to their word by coming through on their playoff guarantee, but unfortunately it didn’t last long as they fell to the Rampage 48-41. James MacPherson was 27 of 40 for 285 yards and five touchdowns for the Rampage leading them into a matchup with #1 Seed Chicago Rush next. You can catch that game July 6th 3pm ET on ESPN.

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Cleveland Gladiators Year In Review

The Cleveland Gladiators have finished their Inaugural season by clinching a berth in the 2008 AFL playoffs. Finishing with a 9-7 record in regular season play they have locked the 4th seed in the National Conference. The Gladiators started off strong going 3-0 to start the season with some good momentum. The great start is especially noteworthy considering the previous year the Gladiators, then playing in Las Vegas, finished their season with a 2-14 record. Head coach Mike Wilpolt might have had a lot to do with it, but he had a helping hand from a good squad that continued to play above expectations all season.

After the big start Cleveland would drop their next three games moving back to .500. These losses included one to a good Dallas Desperados team (3 seed in National Conference), and a match up that was hyped as Bernie Kosar’s Gladiators versus John Elway’s Colorado Crush. After splitting the next two games ( Win against LA Avengers and Loss against New York Dragons) Cleveland saw another three game winning streak. Moving into the final 4 weeks of the season Wilpolt’s squad was sitting at 7-5 in the Eastern Division which is undoubtedly the toughest in the AFL. This is how the Gladiators finished out their season:

Vs. Dallas Desperados: 3rd in National Conference, 2nd in Eastern Division (12-4): L 68-52
Vs. Chicago Rush: 1st in American Conference, 1st in Central Division (11-5): W 65-44
@ Philadelphia Soul: 1st in National Conference, 1st in Eastern Division (13-3): L 62-21
Vs. Columbus Destroyers: The Battle of the Buckeye State, Last Years Runner up in Arena Bowl (3-13): W 47-35

It bodes well for the Gladiators that they finished out strong with a couple key wins to clinch a playoff spot. The most important of the final weeks coming from the victory over the Rush who is the American Conference’s top team. Equally as important was the effort against the Soul on the road in which one point was the difference against the best team in the AFL.

The Key to success will be an offense that has been very fluid all season. Raymond Philyaw has been great behind the helm posting the second best passer rating this season with 124.5. He threw for 4287 yards on 358 completions (68.2%) for 83 Touchdowns to only 10 interceptions. As always his two favorite targets will be Robert Redd and Amey Otis who both cracked the top ten in receiving this year with Otis claiming the top spot in touchdowns with 50. One of the most unsung heroes for the Gladiators will be Marlion Jackson who claimed the AFL Rushing title with 356 yards on the season. The running game is one of the most overlooked aspects of the fast paced Arena game, and Jackson will be a huge asset during the playoffs.

On the defensive side of the ball DB Brandon Hefflin will have to come up big. In his third year in the league he posted a team high 110 tackles, 89 of which were solo along with 2 INTs. He will without a doubt have to step up in a leadership role for other defensive standouts such as Rookie DB Alex Teems who posted the second highest tackle numbers with 82.5.

Monday June 30th will see the Gladiators (9-7 3rd in Eastern Division) moving into the first round of Wild Card play against the Orlando Predators (9-7 2nd in Southern Division). These teams met one time during the regular season where the Gladiators came out on top 62-43.

Quick Match Up Rankings (Overall in AFL)

Defense: Gladiators 2nd, Predators 10th
Rushing: Gladiators 3rd, Predators 8th
Passing: Gladiators 2nd, Predators 10th
Kicking: Gladiators 8th, Predators 10th


All in all the Gladiators match up well on paper, but I would not be looking to the next round just yet. It should be a good game and you can catch it on ESPN2 a week from today.

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AFL Week 3

Week 3 action in Arena Football saw the Arizona Rattlers going up against defending Arena Bowl Champion San Jose Sabrecats as well as The Cleveland Gladiators facing off against the Columbus Destroyers for “The Battle of the Buckeye State Trophy”.

The Arizona Rattlers Still competing with themselves on the season ticket bet with their fans fell to 1-2 against the Sabrecats after tonight’s loss (63-43). The Sabrecats were in control for most of the game putting a 20 point hurting on the Rattlers. Turnovers were the story of this game as the Rattlers lost three fumbles as well as Smoker throwing 3 interceptions. With the win San Jose moves to 2-1 and the rattlers fall farther away from winning their playoff bet.

Next Week: March 21st vs. New York Dragons

In the Battle of the Buckeye State the surprise of the AFL continued to shock and awe as the Gladiators won a nail biter against the Columbus destroyers 59-57. It came down to the wire as Destroyer’s QB Nagy connected on a 33 yard pass with 20 seconds left to put the score at 59-57. They failed to convert the two point conversion, and after Cleveland recovered the onside kick it was all over. Philyaw behind the helm for Cleveland connected 19 of 28 passes for 209 yards and 5 touchdowns. On the receiving end Redd posted 7 catches for 74 yards and 2 touchdowns, while Amey had 6 catches for 71 yards and 3 touchdowns. With this big win over last year’s Arena Bowl Runner Ups Cleveland has moved to 3-0 and knocked Columbus down to 0-3.

Side Note For all of you Buckeye fans out there who are still wondering what happened to Justin Zwick: He is currently backing up Destroyers QB Matt Nagy. He didn’t exactly pan out the way we thought he would did he?

Next Week: Friday March 21st @ New Orleans VooDoo

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Gladiators Impress In Inaugural Game

Last Night Kosar’s Gladiators opened the inaugural seasons against the New York Dragons in front of 17,391 at the Gund. Twenty-Five seconds into the game Gladiators QB Raymond Philyaw dropped back to deliver a 37 yard strike for a touchdown on the club’s first play from scrimmage. Philyaw would go on to complete 18 out of 23 passes for 240 yards, 5 touchdowns and 1 INT en route to a 61-49 victory. Defensively the Gladiators looked impressive including an exciting goal line stand on fourth and goal on the three. Leading in receiving was WR Otis Amey who chalked up 101 yards and two touchdowns not to mention one on the ground. All and all it was a great showing by a team that was certaintly an underdog not only in this game, but for the season. The W gives Kosar, head coach Wilpolt, and his team a huge confidence boost.

Next Game: March 9th vs, Utah Blaze

Oh and a side note for those of you who are Chicago Sports fans: If you are still looking for Steve Bartman, maybe you should start at Chicago Rush games. Here in the AFL what banned him for life from Wrigley is legal, and encouraged by the players as seen in this highlight of your victory over defending AFL Champion San Jose Sabre Cats. Good luck gumshoes.






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Football In The U.S is a 365 Thing

With Spring Training in high gear and moving towards the upcoming season I realized that as un-American as it is, a lot of people don’t get as excited for Baseball as I do. So…in the spirit of making sure you all get your football fix I am here to remind you that this weekend (Mostly today) that the Arena Football season is kicking off.


For those here in Arizona, the Rattlers started off the season with a big win over the Utah Blaze. It was an exciting game for anyone who was able to catch it, with multiple touchdowns being exchanged down to the last second when the Blaze missed the winning field goal attempt. They would fall to Arizona 63-62. Depending on how you look at it that’s good news for the Rattlers and their big gamble with the fans. You can catch the Rattlers on ESPN 2 next Monday the 10th against the LA Avengers.

For those of you in my home state, tonight is the inaugural game for the Cleveland Gladiators. Bernie Kosar’s (CEO and President of the Club) new passion project takes on the New York Dragons. We can see if the Gladiators who relocated from last place in Vegas can fare better in Cleveland. Veteran AFL QB Raymond Philyaw will be behind the helm and will be carrying a lot of the load on his shoulders. I'll keep you updated periodically on both clubs as the season progresses if for no other reason than to see if Cleveland secures another losing franchise, and if the Rattlers refund will break the bank.





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